Structural building member



July 29, 1958 A. i-EIPARENT 2,845,152

STRUCTURAL BUILDING MEMBER Filed March 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

July 29, 1958 v A. E. PARENT 2,845,152

STRUCTURAL BUILDING MEMBER Filed March 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 4277/09 5. flPE/VZ' United State STRUCTURAL BUILDING MEMBER Arthur E. Parent, Belleville, Mich., assignor of ninety percent to June Parent, Belleville, Mich.

Application March 13, 1956, Serial No. 571,196

2 Claims. (Cl. 189--40) This. invention relates generally :to structural building members and is more particularly concerned witha novel metal structural building member usable as a beam, column, stud, floor plate, header, etc., incorporating therein 'A further object of invention in conformance with that set forth is to provide a structural building member of the character set forth which includes a transverse aperture means in one of the longitudinal web portions permitting asecond filler member to be secured in the longitudinal rib portion of the structural member.

Another objectof invention in conformance with that set forth is to provide in a novel structural building member of the character set forth novel means on the end flange portions of the matingmembers for positively and rigidly retaining the mating membersin secured:relationship.

.And yet another object of invention in conformance with -that.setforthtis to provide a novel structurallbuilding member of the character set forth which is readily and economically manufactured, versatile in use, and highly satisfactory and practical for the purposes intended.

These, together with other objects and. advantages which. will becomesubsequently apparent reside in. the detailsof' construction and operation asrnore. fullyzhereinafter described and claimed, reference ibeingg-hadato the accompanying drawings forming a part. hereof, wherein :like numerals refer to like parts'throughout, 'and in which:

Figure 1 is a.fragmentaryperspective view of aportionof the building'construction, with portions broken away and shown in section for-clarity,(illustrating' a plurality of uses of the novel structural member of the invention;

Figure 2 is-an-exploded perspective view of the novel structural building member;

Figure"'3 is a -sectional -view taken substantially on line 3-3' 'of*Figure L'shoWingthe' novel structural memher? removed from the fragmentary building construction;

"'Figure '4- isa sectionalview taken""substan tiallyon line 44 of Figure- 3;v

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view, showing the manner in"which"the""novel'structural member can be used as a portion of a door frame; and

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a fragmentary portion of the novel structural member showatent i 2,845,152 Patented July 29, 1958 ing; the manner in which a second filler member .can be incorporated therewith providing a structural member to be used as shown in Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a fragmentary portion of a wall of a building is indicated generally at 10 in Figure 1, said Wall including studs 12 extending between a fioor plate 14 and joist 16, the floor plate 14 being suitably secured to the building floor 18 .in any suitable manner, the wall being completed by the securement of suitable panel membersltl and 22, which are suitably secured to the floor plate, studs and joist by means of driven fasteners such as the nails 24, or by means of screws or the like.

The novelstructural members 12,- 14 and 16 are all constructed in an identical manner, and are: constructed from a suitable gauge of sheet metal material'in any conventional manner, for example, byrneans of either rolling, extrusion, bending, etc., and subsequent Welding, and their construction lends to expeditious mass production and simplicity of assembly. The portions of the novel structural memberswhich incorporatemeans 'for accommodating drivenfasteners, suchas the nails or screws previously mentioned may be of any suitable Wood material, or any material which is susceptible to receiving driven fasteners therein. Inasmuch as all of the vnovel structural members are constructed in the same manner, a description of one of the structural members should be sufficient.

As seen in Figures 2 through 4, whereintthe stud, for example, is shown in detail, the-novel structural member consists of first and second mating members indicated generally at. 26 and 28,- each of whichincludes a central bodyportion 30 and 32, respectively, which terminate in laterally-extending overlying end flange portions 34 and 36, and 3S and 40, respectively.

The central body portions SIT-and. 32 include longitudinally extending rib portions Hand 44, respectively, whichv include inner web portions 461and 48, respectively, which are'disposed in spaced relationship when the mat- .ing member is assembled. for receiving therebetween a suitable fillermember 50 which is of any material suit- .able to be penetrated by a driven fastener.

The web portions 46 and 48 have extending therethrough suitable transverse aperture portions 52-at" opposite ends thereof for receiving :driven. fasteners there- Jthrou'gh forretaining the filler member 50 in a fixed position between the mating members 26 and 28-. This expedient is only utilized if. necessary, however, the filler member 50 will generally be frictionally driven between the aforementioned web members 46 and.- 48.

The central body portions 30 and 32 of nthe mating members have extending along the length thereof'side fianges-54 and 56,. and'58 and 60, respectively, which are/parallel to the longitudinally extending rib portions -42 and 44, respectively, the edge portions thereof! being inisubstantially planar alignment with the; inner surface portion of. thewebs 46 and 48, respectively, for engaging longitudinally extending surface portions of the nner member 50, when the structural member is assembled, as -will subsequently be described, side flanges 54 and -58,,-and. 56- and' will be engaged on opposite sides along the -lengtht ofsaid filler member. The engagement ofLthe ribs-and side flanges of. the pair of mating members with the filler member 50 resultsin acompa-ctand rigid structural member effective'to' resist compressive forces, fonexampie, if the structural memberis utilizedas a header vorbeam, for example.

.The end flange portions 34 through 40" are formed in. any suitable manner. Considering; flange -36 ,of Figure 2, the part of the body portion 30 extending beyond the terminating lower ends of the flanges 54 and 56 and rib portion 42 is bent transversely so that it is normal to the terminating ends of the flanges 54 and 56 and rib portion 42 as seen at 62 in Figure 2 and forms the end flange 36, whereupon the part adjacent the free end of the flange 36 and indicated by the numeral 64 is bent so as to lie parallel to the ribportion 42. The part 64 is cut away at the mid portion to form a pair of transversely spaced integral abutment elements 66 and 68 Which are of substantially the same width as the space between adjacent parallel inner surfaces of longitudinally extending rib portion and side flange portion of the mating member .28. To accommodate for the longitudinally extending rib between the abutment elements 66 and 68, the edge portion of the end flange 36 includes a transverse notched out portion 70 which will surround the inner periphery of the rib portion of the mating member. The end flange portion 40 of the mating member 28 is constructed similar to the end flange portion 36 including angular and abutment portions 72 and 74 which will extend about the longitudinal rib portion 42 of the mating member 26. The end flange portion 38 of the mating member 26 includes a transverse end flange 76 substantially parallel to the central body portion of said mating member, this flange 76 being engageable on an upper outer surface portion of the central body portion 32 of the mating member 28. Abutment elements 72 and 74 are also inwardly disposed on the side edges of the top flange portion 40 defining portions 78 and 80 which will be received in transverse notched out portions 82 extending from the central body portion of the mating member 26 to the edge of the side flanges 54 and 56. As is readily apparent, when the structural member is assembled the end flange portion 34 is juxtaposed on the end flange portion in secured and fixed position thereon by means of tack welds, for example.

The end flange portion 38 of the mating member 28 includes an angular end flange portion 84 functioning in a manner similar to the flange 76 of the mating member 26, and will be in engagement on the outer surface of the central body portion 30 of the mating member 26. The side flanges 58 and 60 of the mating member 28 include therein adjacent the end flange portion 38 transverse notch portions 86 for receiving therein side edge portions in the flange portion 36. The abutment elements 72 and 74, and 66 and 68, may also be secured at their end portions by means of tack welds to the inner surface portions of the respective mating members with which they are engaged.

The structural member thus far disclosed and described in detail may be used for the various purposes mentioned as clearly shown in Figure 1. Various gauges of metal material may be utilized for constructing the mating members 26 and 28 and different types of material may be used as a filler member 58.

One or both of the web portions of the longitudinally extending rib members may include aperture means therethrough such as a longitudinally extending slot portion 88, see Figure 6, providing a longitudinally extending exposed surface on filler member 50 for receiving driven fasteners therein. A second filler member 90 of any suitable material may be inserted within the rib portion 44 of the mating member 28, for example, to be retained therein by means of suitable transverse fastening elements such as nails, for example. Although but a single web portion is indicated as having the aperture or slot portion 88 extending therethrough, this may be conveniently formed in both web portions of the mating members. As seen in Figure 5, when the second filler member 90 is included with the novel structural member, a door jamb 92 can be secured in transverse juxtaposed relationship thereon by means of suitable driven fastening members such as nails 94 for cooperating with the side edge of a door as indicated 4 fragmentarily in Figure 5. When used as a portion of a door frame as seen in Figure 5, the filler member 50 will present its vertical edge for receiving nails 98 therein, for example, for securing in wall panel member 22 a suitable molding member 100.

As clearly shown in Figure 1, the novel structural members are conveniently constructed from a material that is readily weldable and accordingly the floor plate 14 and header 16 may be secured to the studs 12 by means of suitable welds 102. Thus the novel structural member is not only in itself readily and economically manufactured, but lends itself to rapid construction methods in building construction.

Thus there has been disclosed a novel structural member which fully conforms with the objects of the invention heretofore set forth.

Various positional directional terms such as upper," lower, etc., are utilized herein and have only a relative connotation to aid in describing the device and it is not intended to require any particular orientation with respect to any external elements.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A metal structural building member for receiving driven fasteners and the like therein comprising first and second mating members including a central body portion terminating in opposed angularly related end flange portions extending laterally in the same direction from the central body portion, the end portions of said first and second mating members being secured at their opposite ends in overlying and underlying relationship, respectively, longitudinal rib portions extending the length of the central body portions of the mating members and extending toward each other terminating in spaced web portions defining an uninterrupted slot between said mating members, a first filler member secured between the spaced web portions defining the longitudinally extending slot portion of the mating members and providing an exposed edge portion for receiving driven fasteners therein and resisting compressive forces between the mating members, one of the mating members including a transverse aperture portion extending through the web portion thereof and presenting an exposed intermediate nailing portion of the first filler member, and a second filler member disposed in the rib portion containing the transverse aperture portion for receiving therethrough a driven fastener element extendible into the transverse aperture of said web portion and the exposed nailing portion of the first filler member.

2. The metal structure according to claim 1 in which each of the central body portions of the mating members includes opposed laterally extending side flanges engaging opposite side edge portions of the first filler member in spaced parallel relationship to the rib portions of the mating members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 385,624 Hodges July 3, 1888 1,221,941 Witty et al Apr. 10, 1917 1,880,453 Kantzler Oct. 4, 1932 2,633,945 Millier Apr. 7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 124,770 Australia June 30, 1947 

